Date: 8/14/26 6:56 pm From: Matt S. <accipiter22...> Subject: [MASSBIRD] August 14, 2026 Parker River NWR, Newburyport - Tree Swallow Extravaganza
Hi All,
Now that I live closer, I can go to Parker more often for the Tree Swallow
festivities every year, but still, there’s always one trip that stands out.
I try to get the most videos and pictures that day, I try to drink it all
in and just stand there hoping to hear them come close enough that I can
hear or feel their wings against me. Today was that day. It was a really
good one too; the evening flocks when they go to roost are really dense,
probably 5x what you see in the day usually, but the staging during the day
today was pretty crazy. I stopped at the Wardens to get some video looking
south towards NPO, and part way through the video I was shooting from my
tripod, as I stood there, I saw a swarm start flooding over me. I looked
behind me and it was one giant wave the seemed to stretch north almost to
the horizon. They were diving down into the field north of NPO, and not
just for a minute, for several minutes. There is always some cool
experience during the swallow migration each year, and for me this was the
one today. I stood there and watched them congregate and eventually take
to the air again, and then headed to NPO where various clouds of them were
taking off in huge bunches.
Further south they were still around, but not as dense; the action today
was further to the north on the island. Still, the air was dry, it was
breezy with no bugs, and it was mild out. I walked along Hellcat for a
while, not expecting much, nor seeing a ton; a catbird or two, a male
redstart. At the beginning, near the restrooms I saw something above them
flitting about. It was a red-eyed vireo. So strange to see them being
quiet when just a couple of weeks ago they were still pumping out tunes
hundreds of times per hour. It’s like when they stop singing, so much of
the summer chorus seems to die down and move us from “summer” to “late
summer”.
That's all for now,
Matt s.
Newton, NH
<Accipiter22...>
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https://ebird.org/checklist/S383271297 Plum Island--Parker River NWR & Sandy Pt. State Reservation, Essex,
Massachusetts, US
Aug 14, 2026 7:43 AM - 11:31 AM
Protocol: Traveling
8.208 mile(s)
41 species (+1 other taxa)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 4
Green-winged Teal (American) (Anas crecca carolinensis) 1
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) (Columba livia (Feral Pigeon)) X
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 2
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) 31
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) X
Red Knot (Calidris canutus) 3 Lot 1
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla) 2
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla) X
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) X
American Herring Gull (Larus smithsonianus) X
Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) 2
Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) 26
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) 51
Great Egret (Ardea alba) 37
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 1
Great Blue Heron (Great Blue) (Ardea herodias [herodias Group]) 3
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) 2
Osprey (American) (Pandion haliaetus carolinensis) 1
Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius) 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) (Colaptes auratus auratus/luteus) 1
Peregrine Falcon (North American) (Falco peregrinus anatum) 1
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) 1
Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus) 6
Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus) 1 At Hellcat restrooms. Always odd
to see them so quiet in comparison to how verbose they were even a few
weeks ago
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) 3
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) 40000 Large flocks even for this
time of year.
Purple Martin (Progne subis) 2
Marsh Wren (palustris Group) (Cistothorus palustris [palustris Group]) 2
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) X
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) 8
Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) 1
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) 1
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 1
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) 7
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) 5
Song Sparrow (melodia/atlantica) (Melospiza melodia melodia/atlantica) 3
Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) 7
Red-winged Blackbird (Red-winged) (Agelaius phoeniceus [phoeniceus Group])
4
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) 2
American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla) 1
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 3
